Product Design & Development articles from November 2006

Product Design & Development archives from November 2006

Student contest offers incentives for teachers.(Extreme Redesign)
November 1, 2006... The Dimension 3D Printing Group, a business unit of Stratasys Inc., will once again offer teacher incentives for encouraging students to participate in its third annual "Extreme Redesign: The Ultimate 3D Printing Challenge," a global design and...

Clamp-type collars.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... A line of smooth-bore, clamp-type shaft collars is designed for use as stops, spacers, and for mounting components on stainless steel and acrylic shafts or thin-wall tubing. Stafford Clamp-Type Collars are a suitable replacement for set-screw...

High-density connectors.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... The high-density PowerMod connector system is offered in three to 30 circuits. It is available for straight PC board, right-angle PC board, panel, or cable mountings. It offers maximum design flexibility for a variety of system packaging. The...

Expanded terminal blocks.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... WeiCoS terminal blocks have been expanded to include a 4 [mm.sup.2] portfolio that will handle up to 10 AWG conductors. The new ZT4/2AN/1 and ZTPE4/2AN/1 offer users greater flexibility and lower assembly costs. WeiCoS combines both terminal...

Smooth-bore hose.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... A line of highly flexible, smooth bore hose assemblies is designed for chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, semiconductor, and food processing applications. PAGE-flex SBF hose uses a smooth-bore PFA tube, a bonded, wire braid--silicone-textile...

Ultraviolet optics.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... In response to the needs of biophotonics users, 20 new optical product lines are designed to work in ultraviolet light. They include UV-NIR Triplets, CaF2 Windows, UV Laser Mirrors, UV filters, UV Fixed Focal Length Lenses, UV cameras, UV-VIS...

Corrosion-resistant encoders.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... H25 and H20 incremental rotary encoders are available with a stainless steel housing option. Harsh industrial applications often expose plant equipment to caustic chemical materials, resulting in premature deterioration and failure. These units...

Self-clinching fasteners.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... PEM Type HFHB BUSBAR self-clinching studs can satisfy applications demanding electrical/mechanical attachment points in copper. These phosphor bronze externally threaded fasteners offer twice the conductivity of conventional carbon steel studs....

Dry gas seal.(First Look: Smart Products and Technical Tools for Engineers)
November 1, 2006... The Type 83 barrier seal is a dual-segmented carbon ring seal designed to prevent the migration of bearing oil to the dry gas seal cartridge on turbo-compressor equipment. The Type 83 design incorporates several key enhancements that result in...

The emerging air battle: electrics are making inroads, but pneumatics are fighting back.(Future Focus)
November 1, 2006... The world of pneumatics is changing. Makers of pneumatic equipment face challenges from electric actuators, while users are beginning to take a closer look at the true cost of compressed air. But pneumatic equipment is not standing still, and...

A smarter way to keep danger at bay: intelligent drives can help engineers increase machine safety.(From The Field)
November 1, 2006... Machine operators often need access inside the guarding when setting up work pieces or clearing jams and other malfunctions. Instead of a complete machine shutdown, safety considerations can now be made where motion is controlled at safe limits...

Q&A: the attraction of magnetostrictive sensors.(Questions & Answers)(Interview)
November 1, 2006... One of the hottest trends in sensors these days is magnetostrictive technology. What exactly is it, and how does is benefit design engineers? We asked Dare Edeal, technical marketing manager for Temposonics position sensors at MTS Sensors, to...

Shining a light on quality: when it comes to LEDs, you better know how they were manufactured.(Tech Watch)
November 1, 2006... The benefits of LED lighting compared to conventional lighting are numerous. LEDs provide maintenance and power savings, as well as performance enhancements such as durability, reliability, longer life span, and consistent color and brightness...

Cooking up cash savings: appliance makers are finding thermoset materials can help reduce costs and design challenges.(Cover story)
November 1, 2006... From your crisply ironed shirt and golden brown toast to your ice-cold beverage and juicy grilled burger, your day is fill] of good things brought to you by molded thermoset appliance parts. Thanks to their unique properties, such as...

Specialty TPEs: fending off fluids: how thermoplastic elastomers function in fluid-resistant applications.(Focus On Materials)
November 1, 2006... As a rule, rigid thermoplastics only have useful properties at temperatures below eider their glass transition temperatures or their crystalline melting points. The extremely dense frozen crystalline melt or glass structure of rigid plastics...

Designing medical devices for the 21st century.(INDUSTRY SECTOR REPORT: MEDICAL DESIGN)
November 1, 2006... Healthcare today is an ever-changing marketplace where technological advances fuel change and increase the demand for innovative ideas that often spawn a series of new applications. In today's medical device marketplace, the demand for reliable...

Digital technology cures medical power woes.(INDUSTRY SECTOR REPORT: MEDICAL DESIGN)
November 1, 2006... Advances in digital technology, commonplace in the worlds of bioengineering and computing, are now extending a level of user-friendly flexibility to the power sources that are so essential to robust medical electronics designs. Next generation...

Digitized systems replace glass slides.(INDUSTRY SECTOR REPORT: MEDICAL DESIGN)
November 1, 2006... Pathologists today face multiple challenges in delivering timely high quality results. The advent of the virtual microscopy, or the creation, management, and analysis of digital slides via a computer monitor, is fulfilling its recent promise to...

Digital multimeters.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... A new family of digital multimeters includes the Fluke 117 Electricians' Multimeter with non-contact voltage detection and the Fluke 116 HVAC Multimeter with temperature and micro-amps capability. The family of true-RMS meters comprises four...

Air filter tabs.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The Flextab provides convenience for those that service air filters in the field. These tabs are especially helpful when removing or positioning filters in hard to reach spaces. The new Flextab adhesive pull tab is flexible. Handles and tabs...

High-speed interconnects.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... A range of impedance-matched size 8 and size 12 Quadrax interconnects offers enhanced alignment features and optimized signal performance. Quadrax High Speed Assemblies are designed to enable users to reduce both size and weight by up to 30...

Multi-variable flowmeter.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The OPTISWIRL 4070 C flowmeter is a multi-variable instrument that combines a vortex flow sensor with built-in temperature compensation and optionally available integrated pressure in a two-wire configuration. The unit is a loop-powered...

Signal connectors.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The Power Edge includes signal and mixed-power and signal assemblies. The new Power Edge signal contact connectors are designed to provide compact, reliable solutions for direct mating in high-power and signal card edge or bus bar tab...

Backplane connector system.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The AirMax VS three-pair backplane connector system meets the mid-plane connector interface requirements defined in the recently-announced Storage Bridge Bay (SBB) specification. Leading companies in the data storage industry collaborated in...

Medical actuator systems.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... CAJ actuator systems enable safe, quiet, and reliable power-driven positioning and adjustment of beds in hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation, and home-care settings. These systems integrate linear actuators, telescopic pillars, control...

Miniature compression latch.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... A compact size compression latch with an open and close indicator incorporates DSNAP Technology. / Until now, screws were required to secure a compression latch on a sheet metal panel. Now, this miniature compression latch, marketed under the...

Converter on-chip.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The PIC18F4523 family of high-end 8-bit Flash microcontrollers includes a high-speed 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) peripheral on-chip. Additionally, this microcontroller family includes nanoWatt technology features, which provide...

Contact ball bearings.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... PumPac angular contact ball bearing arrangements are suitable for centrifugal pump applications. Their optimized internal designs promote reduced operating temperatures and vibration levels to deliver smoother operation and longer service life...

Analog sensor.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The R-Series analog sensor provides enhanced sensing performance along with extended functionality and programmability. It includes fully programmable dual channel outputs for simultaneous position and velocity, or dual magnet position, all...

PC board indicators.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... These blue and white LED PC board indicators are high-intensity devices designed to give designers alternatives to conventional PC board indicators and existing right-angle surface mount conventional products. They provide right-angle light...

Rocker switch.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The WB2-Series rocker switch has an IP55 rating. The switch is designed to protect against dust and low pressure jets of water from all directions thanks to its internal design. It does not use any external PVC or rubber cap. The WB2-Series...

Medical device polymers.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... A line of medical molding capabilities for medical products has been expanded with a full range of advanced polymers designed specifically to meet the needs of the medical device industry. Performance benefits of these advanced...

Epoxy performs.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... Designed as a solid alternative to liquid-epoxy for high-volume, precision sealing, Uni-form epoxy preforms are pre-shaped, one-part resins that are solid at room temperature. When heated, Uni-forms melt and cure, forming a consistent seal that...

Ethernet switches.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... An expansion of the FocalPoint Ethernet switch device family offers Ethernet switch chips targeted at the coming wave of multi-port optical line termination (OLT) cards for Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) equipment. With the success of...

Brush-commutated motors.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... Series 8000 brush-commutated DC motors feature a seven-slot skewed armature design suitable to minimize magnetic cogging (reluctance torque) and to promote smooth and quiet motor operation. This family of brush DC motors offers performance,...

Verification software.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... On Machine Verification (OMV) software is specifically written for machine tool inspection of prototypes, complex and large parts, multi-operation parts, and die and mould parts, employing original CAD data. OMV enables off-line programming and...

LVDT position sensors.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... A line of 24 VDC- operated LVDT position sensors provides a true zero to 10 V output for easy field integration with PLCs, digital indicators, A/D converters, computer-based DAQ systems, and QC data collection systems. The true zero voltage...

Fast-curing epoxy.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... EP51M is a "three minute" set up epoxy adhesive for general purpose bonding. Bonded parts can be safely handled within a half an hour. EP51M produces durable high strength bonds having more than 2,000 psi in shear. EP51M adheres to metals,...

Linear actuators.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... A new line of linear actuators is designed for positioning requirements in electronics, semiconductor, medical, packaging, assembly equipment, automotive, and other challenging applications. The linear actuators incorporate high precision, long...

Dust-/water-resistant outlet.(New Products)
November 1, 2006... The Interpower Swiss 16 A dust- and water- resistant outlet is designed for equipment rated up 16 A with service at 250 VAC. The unit is approved to the SEV, Bectrosuisse standard type 1011 sheet 5934. The outlet is RoHS-compriant. The Swiss 16...

Catalogs & brochures.(Free Stuff)
November 1, 2006... * A 20-page pneumatic products catalog from MFD Pneumatics, focuses on product lines specific to the OEM's low cost, quality component requirements. Available in print or online, this new catalog provides in-depth engineering data and...

Management software.(Free Stuff)
November 1, 2006... Powerway, a supplier of management software, has announced that it will be providing its document control, quality solutions, engineering advantage, and factory floor performance products free of charge. Companies that participate in this...